Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1987. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 120-121. / by Carol Jacqueline Bryan. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1995. / Two maps in pocket following text. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Peter Stanley Kaufman. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, 1985. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND LINDGREN. / Bibliography: leaves 74-76. / by Eric R. Shortt. / M.S.

Thesis: Ph. D. in Planetary Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-91). / This thesis uses planetary albedo models to investigate variations in visible wavelength phase curves of exoplanets. We improve upon existing exoplanet giant planet albedo models and incorporate exoplanet general circulation models to analyze the composition and occurrence of clouds on tidally locked exoplanets. We confirm that non-uniform cloud coverage on the dayside of tidally locked exoplanets will affect the magnitude and location of the maximum of the phase curve. We then apply the models to the exoplanet Kepler-7b and consider the effect of varying cloud species, sedimentation efficiency, particle size, and cloud altitude. In the context of Kepler Space Telescope observations, we show that the cloud compositions and spatial distributions can be constrained. We also investigate exoplanet HD189733b, modeling its clouds, albedo and phase curves. We create 3D maps of cloud formation and analyze how cloud composition, spatial distribution, and temperature dependence affects albedo spectra for HD189733b. We use the modeled cloud patterns of spatially-varying composition and temperature to determine the observable albedo spectra and phase curves for HD189733b by fitting to the observations of Berdyugina et al. (2011), Evans el al. (2013), and Wiktorowicz et al. (2015). We show that these integrated albedo and general circulation models enable us to model non-uniform reflectivity due to exoplanet clouds, and to better interpret observations. / by Matthew Webber. / Ph. D. in Planetary Science

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-136). / In this thesis, we investigate the effects of planetary waves one and two on the polar stratosphere during boreal winter. We use MERRA reanalysis data and the FMS shallow-water model to compare and contrast their propagation into the stratosphere, their interactions within the stratosphere, and their effects on the polar vortex. The results have implications for the predictability of sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs), theories on the developments of vortex splits and the role of zonal winds in the tropics. In Chapter 2, we use correlations and regressions to demonstrate that the tropopause affects wavenumber one amplitudes more than wavenumber two. Thus, the statistical predictability of SSWs, based on synoptic events in the mid-troposphere (e.g. blockings), is limited. Composites of extreme heat fluxes reveal that they are likely caused by linear interference of the climatology and anomalies. The phases of anomalous planetary waves align with the climatology only during the largest heat fluxes. In Chapter 3, the effect of wave-wave interactions within the stratosphere is quantified by analyzing eddy energy budgets. The energy transfer from wavenumber one toward wavenumber two plays a key role in the vortex split in January 2013 and several other SSWs. This mechanism might explain the growth of wavenumber two in the stratosphere in nonresonant conditions. However, wave-wave interactions are small in averages over all splits since 1979 suggesting that different processes can lead to vortex splits and that the common SSW definitions do not capture the timing of planetary wave growth. In Chapter 4, we employ a shallow-water model to isolate the effects of wave one and two on the polar vortex over a large range of forcing amplitudes and vortex strengths. We are able to simulate SSW splits, which are unequivocally caused by wave-wave interactions. Furthermore, the initial response of the polar vortex depends strongly on the wavenumber of the forcing. / by Andreas Wolfgang Miller. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1990. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / by David Avery Lockner. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-238). / by Pierre Frédéric Ihmle. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-44). / by Ellen A. Dotson. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-165). / by Barbara Moths Sheffels. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1988. / Includes bibliographies. / by Craig Howard Jones. / Ph.D.